Toy, Model & Collectible Replica Cars

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I know, I know, tried to tell her that, but doubt if the message got through.

She got an "old" Jag the other day too (translation - beat up). She thinks she's going to paint it since most of the paint has flaked off. She's good friends with an antique dealer and knows better, but no one knows better than she does.

They might hold their value - I think some of the earliest models have appreciated. But they probably won't be like 50s-60s vintage stuff, as it was meant to be collected and not played with. A 49 cent toy from 50 years ago can be worth hundreds today - whereas a $100 model from 20 years ago might still be worth $100.

This is reposted from Mystery car Pix where it was posted in error [Doh!]

There are a number of impediments to collecting in the 1/18 Scale but it seems to be very popular. The choices and quality of replicas available have improved tremendously since the days when Bburago and Polistoy were the dominant makers.

I've got a sizeable collection of a couple of dozen sports, racing and classic cars in 1/18 scale and yes my wife does complain about me turning the house into a small scale parking garage.

My latest acquisition is this dandy 1948 Land Rover S1>

This miniature represents a very early LR and has some features that are odd even by Land Rover Standards including three abreast seating in the front.You can read more about it

Most of my 1:18 scale cars are being played by my 3 year old son. I'd buy a few of the better quality ones but no point as he'll want to play with them too, so I'll just resume collecting when my son gets older. Funny thing is he got quite a few for Christmas from friends and family and with the ones I gave him he has around 10 or so that he plays with.

Lucky kid, I had to make do with Dinky Toys which were around 1/43 scale.

I had fun with 'em, I had a Sunbeam Alpine, an MG Midget,a Rolls Silver Cloud a Lagonda and several others including some cool military trucks (including a Land Rover S1) and armoured cars. My love of Euro cars probably began with those Dinkys.

I see Majorette toys here in some dept stores but the quality seems cheap, not the same as I remember with full metal bottom and body, suspension, or opening doors or hoods.

What's dissapointing is that lately Toys R Us stopped carrying 1:18 scale cars, even from Maisto, and started bringin in some really cheap looking chinese cars/figurines that I would not even glance at at the dollar store.

Here's my son about a year ago with some of the cars I gave him. The coolest thing is he's such a car guy and he's only 3.5 years old but can name pretty much all car makes and many models out on the street:

Like so many other things, when Majorette moved production from the first world, quality suffered. All Majorette vehicles from my childhood were made in France - I think later toys are made in Thailand.

Cute pic - having a car nut dad has to help, you can teach him and enable a collection. I know my dad's like of old cars helped get me going. I can't remember when I could start naming cars, but it came around fairly young I am sure.

When you go on your upcoming vacation, look in department stores - I bet they will have something. You'd love some of the toy stores in Germany, some I have visited have practically an entire floor for toy cars.

He's such a Mercedes fan. Our good friend had an 03 SL500 which my son loved, but then he got rid of it and got an 06 CLS which my son also loves.

I'm excited about our vacation because he'll get to learn some non North American makes like Renault, Citroen, Peugeot, and stuff that we don't see here generally. Even he recognizes some of these makes too from car magazines that we read together.

That's funny - what does he notice about MB? Back in my day, they were pretty uncommon still - I don't know what got me started. No real friends of the family had one, but I remember a doctor who had a smoky W126 300SD that interested me. I always liked my toy MBs, something about the styling - even of sedans, they seemed right.

When I was a little kid, I remember I liked MGs, VW (Rabbit based) pickups, and Porsches most, and I liked antique cars.

The logos for those French cars will be easy for him. He'll be able to discern Citroen styling, no doubt.

Not sure what he likes about them, he just does. But I think his favorite car to ride in was a Maserati QP, one I had for a weekend from work. He loved the piano black trim and all the cool switchgear:

Speaking of Majorette Cadillac limos, I still have mine from my childhood, which of course my son plays with:

Great pics, both of them. I still have some of my old toy cars, but most were ruined or given away.

My earliest cool car memory is riding in a white 911 with a whale tail - I remember it had sheepskin seat covers (early 80s), I was enthralled. Also, family who lived across the street had a white RX-7, I loved that thing and would tag along with them just to ride in it - if I was lucky, their son and I could get a ride to school (kindergarten!) in it.

I bet a Porsche in the early 80s would have been cool. Exotic cars back then were not as common as they are today, so it was a rare sight seeing a Porsche, Ferrari, or Lambo on the street, let alone riding in one.

My favorite memory as a child was back in Poland when a family friend came to show us a Fiat 131 Supermirafiori.

In the 80s in Poland where all you had was communist Ladas, Trabants, and Polish Fiats, this car blew me away. Sunroof, power windows, cool styling for that time, and he took us for a spin, promptly getting the speed up to about 180km/h which I remember vividly. It was a cool experience!

Exotics really were exotic then. A Ferrari or Aston today barely makes me look - but I remember it was a huge deal when I saw my first Ferrari on the road, and even things like MBs and BMWs were unusual enough to turn my head. The cars being cheaper and easier to acquire today has changed the landscape.

Your story reminds me of something I watched on TV when the wall fell - someone in Hungary or Czech had somehow acquired an 80s Celica, which was apparently a real exotic, and he was driving it to Austria or Germany.

I remember there was a Fiat 131 wagon in town when I was maybe 11 years old - it was even badged "automatic", probably not a good thing.